Process for manufacturing construction elements, their composition, reinforcement and means for mounting same

ABSTRACT

A construction element adapted to be fixed to the facade of a building is produced by hardening a composition consisting essentially of foamed synthetic material with a particle size of 2 mm to 7 mm, cement and water and of a bulk density of 0.2 to 0.4 kg/dm 2  and a thermal conductivity of 0.06 to 0.08 w/mh° K. Mounting clips are driven into the body to enable it to be attached to the building facade.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a National Phase application of PCT/AT 8600044 filedAug. 12, 1986 and based, in turn, upon an Austrian national applicationNo. 1675/85 filed June 3, 1985.

It is known to manufacture building elements for facades, as cornicesmade of wood, bricks of heavy concrete, plaster (lime-cement mortar) orhardened plastic foams, whereby some of the aforementioned can beprefabricated.

As far as mounting of these elements to finished buildings is concerned,the above-mentioned systems are often avoided.

For example, dimensions of wood elements are greatly influenced byhumidity variations, bricks are not very appropriate for safe fasteningof cornices to finished buildings, cornice or frame parts made of heavyconcrete can not always be securely fastened to old buildings, due totheir specific weight, facade elements made of plaster are limited as totheir size is concerned, profile elements made of polystyrene are notsolid facade ornaments. Therefore, it is clear that facade elements tobe mounted on completed buildings, either as cornices or as ornamentalblocks or the like, are problematic. Furthermore, since not all corniceparts are thermoinsulating, particularly at the ceiling levels of eachfloor which mostly represent cold bridges, these cornice parts have tobe made thermoinsulating.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, the aforementioned facade elements are madeof a mass consisting mostly of foamed synthetic materials, with aparticle size of 2 mm to 7 mm and a small part of cement and water tobulk densities of 0.2 to 0.4 kg/dm³. The physical characteristics ofthis mass are surprisingly good, for instance it is not rough, it isfrost-resistant, fireproof, easy to work on and extremelythermoinsulating. The thermal conductivity coefficient is Lamda b=0.06to 0.08 w/mh° K.

Surprisingly, it has been found that the described mass can be shapedwith rotating profiled plates, and that the reinforcement anchors can bedriven into the already finished profiled body at any desired point, asdeeply as desired, without precutting, so that the cumbersomeprepositioning of reinforcement anchors in forms can be eliminated. Dueto the low specific weight, profiled bodies with large volumes, forinstance with a length of 1.5 m, a projection of 0.4 m and a height of0.3 m can be affixed after building to the outer walls and screwed tothe wall by means of anchoring clips. The manufacture of the profiledfacade elements can be done so that the mentioned lightweight concretemass can be formed, and on the next day after hardening, the unfashionedfacade element is passed through a shaping device. The direction ofadvance follows a curved path in the case of arched cornice elements.

Because of the workability of the blanks, the shaping device can workaccording to a very simple principle.

One or more horizontal shafts can be provided each with a longitudinalslot passing through their middle, whereby the respective profiled platewith a thickness of 4 mm, presenting outer contours as a mirror image ispassed through and centrally fastened in the longitudinal slot, whichhas a length of for instance 1 m and a thickness of 4 mm. The shapingshaft, which turns in a direction opposite to the direction ofdisplacement of the blank is oscillatingly supported in both bearings bysuspension spindles, so that besides the horizontal back- and forthmotion of the shaft, it is also possible to move it up and down, as wellas to tilt in any desired way, for the purpose of positioning. After thepositioning of the shaping shaft, each bearing bracket is fastened tothe vertical support structure. The setting for the manufacture ofdifferent profiles, after the insertion of the pattern plate providedtherefor, is in this case unusually quick and does not require largeexpenses.

The facade elements according to the invention can be shaped at anydesired point, whereby it is possible to effect shaping not only on thevisible side, but also at the upper side and the back side of theelements. On the upper face of the construction element, little groovesare cut out, which serve for the subsequent filling with heavy concreteand for receiving reinforcement bars, which are thereby protectedagainst rust. These steel concrete reinforcements connect several shapedbodies to each other, and also serve to increase the strength of thematerial so it is safe to tread upon, or to serve for the formation ofbearing pressure points, for instance wherever the anchors are to befastened or are already fastened, or for instance where handrails are tobe mounted.

On the side of the profiled body facing the building, fine grooves forreceiving of larger amounts of adhesive mortar can be precut. Theprojecting facade element parts are either arranged side by side flushwith each other, or mounted one after the other via offset lateralflanks, or dovetailed or toothed lateral flanks. The fastening anchorsare preferably manufactured of bent flat steel bars, whereby these barsand/or claws thereon are subsequently driven into the light concretemass, whereby these anchors consist preferably of two parts, whereby onethe parts absorbs the vertical forces and the second part the horizontalforces resulting from the torque. The second part surrounds the verticalanchor at its upper portion, so that the vertical tongue can not movelaterally, nor back and forth. The horizontal tongues can also beexecuted in such a way as to surround a steel concrete armature of theshaped element.

The groove-like recesses can run parallel to the facade wall. Channelsrunning transversely or diagonally can also be cut into the element, andbecause of the work ability of the material, this cutting can also bedone subsequently on site and this way special static requirements canbe met.

The mentioned fashioned facade elements can be coated in a manner knownper se, reinforced by reticular structures, or covered with sheet metalon top, for protection against heavy rain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention is now further detailed with the aid of the drawing,which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a construction elementaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a reinforcement anchor; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a shaping device forshaping of construction elements.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

The construction element 2 consists of a hardened mixture of a foamedsynthetic material and cement, and, for reasons of weight reduction, hasrecesses 3 and on one side grooves 4, which can be cut after thehardening of the mass. These can be filled with concrete for the purposeof reinforcing the construction element 2. Hence, it is also possible toinsert a reinforcement extending over several such constructionelements. For the fastening of the construction element 2, a fasteninganchor 1 can be driven thereinto with a hammer.

This fastening anchor 1 has an anchor base 5, which has at its upper endholes 6 for receiving the fastening screws. This anchor base 5 isconnected with a tension rod 7, provided with claws which can be driveninto the construction element 2, where this traction rod preferablyreaches with its claws into the grooves 4, provided for thereinforcement of the construction element 2.

FIG. 3 shows a construction element 2 lying in a guide 10 movable bymeans of a slide pusher 11. This construction element is fashioned withthe cutter 12. This cutter consists of a slotted shaft 13, wherein apattern plate 14 is held. This pattern plate is not subjected to specialstresses, since the construction elements are relatively soft.

I claim:
 1. A method of making a construction element adapted to be applied to a facade of a building, comprising the steps of:(a) forming a blank by hardening a composition consisting essentially of foamed synthetic material with a particle size of 2 mm to 7 mm, cement and water to a bulk density of 0.2 to 0.4 kg/dm² and a thermal conductivity of 0.06 to 0.08 w/mh° K.; (b) shaping said blank by displacing said blank past a rotating shaft provided with a contoured plate removing material from said blank to form contours in said blank complementary to that of said contoured plate; and (c) driving into said blank after contouring thereof in step (b) an anchoring clip enabling mounting of the contoured blank on a facade of a building.
 2. A construction element adapted to be applied to a facade of a building comprising a contoured body of a hardened composition consisting essentially of foamed synthetic material with a particle size of 2 mm to 7 mm, cement and water and of a bulk density of 0.2 to 0.4 kg/dm² and a thermal conductivity of 0.06 to 0.08 w/mh° K., and a clip driven into and anchored in said body enabling mounting of the contoured body on a facade of a building. 